What Idle Means On Discord – And How To Set Yours

You’ve probably heard the word “idle” being thrown around if you’re part of the gaming community. And as it turns out, Discord has a feature called “idle” that makes your account inactive when you’re away from your computer or not actively chatting with your friends. It may seem like an unimportant setting, but it actually has several benefits that extend beyond simply saving battery life. Read on to learn more about what idle means on Discord and how to set yours.

What Does Idle Mean On Discord?

This word gets thrown around a lot whenever you ask people if they’re “idle” or not, but do you truly know what it means? If you have an account on Discord, you can set it to “idle” to make it appear as though you aren’t actively using it. This might sound pointless, but there are several benefits to doing so.

Basically, when you turn on your idle mode, your account will automatically become inactive after a certain amount of time. This means that you won’t receive any notifications from other people while your account is idle. The only exceptions to this rule are users who have your number saved on their phones and people who send you a direct message. Essentially, when you’re idle, other people won’t know whether you’re actually online or not. But why would you want your account to be inactive?

Idle Vs. Offline On Discord

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of what idle means on Discord, let’s first discuss the difference between “idle” and “offline”. Essentially, you can choose to have one or both of these settings enabled. When you have your account set to “idle”, you’ll appear offline and won’t receive any notifications.

On the other hand, when your account is set to “offline”, you’ll appear offline and won’t receive any notifications. However, there is one minor difference that we want to point out. When your account is set to idle, other people will be able to see that you’re online even though you aren’t actively chatting with them. On the other hand, when your account is set to offline, others will be able to see that you’re offline, even when you’re actively chatting with them.

How To Set Your Discord Account To Idle

Now that we’ve gone over what idle means on Discord, let’s talk about how you can set your account to idle. You can do this by opening up Discord, clicking on the cog icon in the upper-right corner, and choosing “Settings”. Once you’re on your settings page, click on the “Account” tab and choose “Idle timeout”. From there, you’ll be able to set your idle time to anywhere between 1 and 24 hours. Keep in mind that the default idle time is 2 hours, which isn’t enough if you’re going to be away from your computer for longer than that.

Why You Should Enable Idle Mode On Discord

As we’ve mentioned above, there are several benefits to setting your Discord account to idle. However, we want to go over a few of these benefits in greater detail.

First and foremost, the idle mode will stop notifications from popping up on your screen when you aren’t actively chatting with someone. This is especially useful if you’re playing games with a group of people and want to avoid being distracted by notifications.

Similarly, the idle mode will stop your computer from dinging with each new notification that comes through. This can save you a significant amount of battery life, especially if you’re away from a charger for several hours at a time.

Important Benefits Of Discord’s Idle Mode

Let’s go over some of the obvious perks introduced by the idle mode on Discord.

You Can Use Idle Mode to Save Battery Life

As we’ve already discussed, setting your Discord account to idle will save you a significant amount of battery life. However, there are several other things you can do to prolong your laptop or phone battery. For example, you should avoid downloading hefty apps and games while you’re away from a charger. If you’re going to be playing Fortnite for several hours at a time, you probably don’t want to have Discord open on your phone. Similarly, you should avoid watching YouTube videos and Netflix shows when you’re away from a charger.

Stop Notifications When You’re Not Around

Another great thing about setting your Discord account to idle is that it allows you to avoid notifications when you’re away from your computer. Setting your account to idle will stop notifications from popping up on your screen, but it will also stop notifications from popping up on other people’s screens. If you’re in a group chat with your friends, you probably don’t want them to know when you’re away from your computer. This can be a problem if you have your notifications set to “on” since they’ll still receive alerts when you’re not around. But by setting your account to idle, you can avoid this issue without having to turn off your notifications.

Battery Usage Is Limited When Idled

Besides saving you a ton of battery life by using your idle mode, you can also limit your phone’s battery usage while you’re away from a charger. For example, you could turn off your cellular data and Wi-Fi while you’re away from your computer. This will prevent you from accidentally browsing the internet or sending messages while you’re away from your computer. However, keep in mind that most messaging apps, like WhatsApp and Discord, have offline modes. So, even if your phone is off, you can still receive messages when you’re away from your computer.

Auto-reply When You’re In Idle Mode

Finally, if you want to avoid being totally unresponsive when your account is set to idle, you can set it up to auto-reply to all messages. To do this, simply click on the “hamburger” menu in the upper-right corner and choose “Settings”. Then, click on the “Account” tab, select “Auto-reply”, and choose the message that you’d like to send to your friends.

Use Dark Theme While Idling

If you’re using Discord on your PC or Mac, you should consider using their dark theme while your account is idle. When you’re idle, your computer’s power is still being consumed even though Discord is open and you aren’t actively using it. But by using the dark theme, your computer will save battery life since the screen will be black instead of white. You can enable the dark theme on Discord by clicking on the “hamburger” menu in the upper-left corner and choosing “Settings”. Then, choose the “Basic” tab and select “Dark” under Theme.

Final Words: Is Setting Your Discord Account To “idle” Worth It?

As we’ve discussed throughout this article, there are several benefits to setting your Discord account to idle. Not only will it save you a ton of battery life, but it will also stop you from being distracted by notifications when you don’t want to be. All in all, setting your Discord account to idle is definitely worth it, especially if you’re away from your computer for longer than a couple of hours.